in which I review books and ponder bookology (and write about other things too)

Saturday, January 15, 2011

his family ... and other animals

I have just finished reading Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals. It's one of those books that I'm delighted to discover now, but really should have come across earlier. Has anyone else coming across this blog read it?Gerald Durrell was an English (though Indian-born) naturalist and conservationist who also wrote books about his exploits. I've never even considered reading books about animals before, but that was before I realised how much fruit for story-telling they provided him. This particular book is about the five years he spent with his slightly unconventional family on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930s, from the age of ten.

It feels like cheating to be able to write a book about your childhood years in Corfu, in a way. Durrell has so much to work with, simply by virtue of living in an absolutely beautiful location, with fascinating wildlife, and interesting people. It also feels like cheating to have such a wonderfully eclectic family, and to have such serendipity in encountering the most unusual variety of people outside the family. But at the same time I get the distinctive idea that Durrell is one of those people who could find interesting things anywhere, and, even if they happen to be swamp-delling reptiles or generous wife-killers, endear them to all his readers.

I laughed out loud for a high percentage of this book. It's full of hilarious moments, brought to the page either by Durrell's family/friends or by animals or by Durrell's family's encounters with his animals. When I wasn't giggling, I was fascinated by the wildlife a teenaged Durrell dug up in various swamps or stumps or seas. Or I was bowled over by his descriptions of Corfu. One particular image stands out: swimming in the sea, at night, with porpoises - the sea so full of phosphoresence that the porpoises shone as they swum underneath or beside him, and the water they splashed sparkling like little diamonds.

I did get bogged down a bit in the descriptive passages at times. But as a whole this book is something lovely to read. A slice of chocolate cake, as books go. I give it three and a half stars.

Books read, 2014

1. Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen2. Five Little Pigs, by Agatha Christie3. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith4. The Man in the Brown Suit, by Agatha Christie5. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, by Helen Fielding6. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie7. A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis, by Eugene Bardach8. Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh9. The Watsons & Emma Watson, by Jane Austen and Joan Aiken10. Evil Under the Sun, by Agatha Christie11. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho12. Love in a Cold Climate, by Nancy Mitford13. The Tricksters, by Margaret Mahy14. A Three-Pipe Problem, by Julian Symons15. Cotillion, by Georgette Heyer16. A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby17. Sight Reading, by Daphne Kalotay18. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen19. Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer20. Cousin Kate, by Georgette Heyer21. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson22. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis23. The Guernsey Literary and Potato-Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer24. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 1), by George R. R. Martin25. God in a Brothel, by Daniel Walker26. Yes Please, by Amy Poehler

Books read, 2015

1. Not That Kind of Girl, by Lena Dunham2. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy3. That Hideous Strength, by C. S. Lewis